


Larxene Joins The Poker League

by ErikaWilliams



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 02:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17112704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErikaWilliams/pseuds/ErikaWilliams
Summary: Shortly after joining Organization XIII, Larxene becomes the latest member of the poker league.





	Larxene Joins The Poker League

Axel stared sullenly at his dwindling pile of chips, then glanced at the expanding piles in front of Luxord and Xigbar. Luxord he expected to lose to as he was fairly certain X had ways of controlling the deck, but every so often, he would be thrown a win by pity or luck. But for some reason, whenever Xigbar was playing, he seemed to win all the ones Luxord didn’t. Axel figured it was a ranking thing, but still, it was like sitting in the den of wolves with a pile of fresh meat next to him. No one else had been foolish enough to continue playing with the two of them, although Axel had noticed some of them were brave enough to take them on separately.

“Aren’t you boys a little old to be playing card games?” Larxene asked from the doorway, and even Luxord stopped shuffling his deck long enough to watch her saunter to the table and lean over the back of the empty chair. Axel waited for Luxord to rise to the bait, but the gambler merely dealt out the next hand, including the empty seat, Axel was quick to note.

“Its poker,” Xigbar said as he swiped up his cards. Axel picked up his at a more leisurely pace, not liking the way Luxord was staring at him and fearing he had been dealt a poor hand again. Or worse.

“Oh?” she asked, placing a hand on her hip. “Does that mean it’s a man’s game and I’m not allowed to play?”

“Please, sit down.” Luxord indicated the empty chair with his hand, not once taking his gaze off Axel. It was infuriating, and Axel had to remind himself that the last time he had singed the deck of cards, Xemnas had gotten involved.

“Do you ever wonder if your poker face might be just a bit too creepy?” he asked, placing his cards face down on the table, leaning forward with his arm on the table. His only response was a smirk and the same unnerving glare. “I mean, you’ve only been a Nobody less than a year. Can’t you at least pretend that you used to be human?” Because Luxord’s chilling attitude did give him the serious creeps, even outside of the game.

“On the contrary, Xaldin recruited me less than a year ago. That’s not indicative of how long I’ve been a Nobody.”

Which was definitely far too creepy, and Axel decided perhaps he should set his sights on lesser game first. Doing his best to ignore Luxord’s stare, he turned his attention to Xigbar instead. “That must still sting, eh, Xiggy? You bring in pansy water boy who runs from a Shadow, and Xaldin delivers the grand time master himself here.”

“I thought he was trying not to be noticed,” Xigbar growled, pretending to peer intently at his cards as though Axel had not yet managed to get to him.

“And you and Xaldin both brought in Marluxia, so you can’t even get credit for that.” Yup, breaking Xigbar was certainly going to be much easier than breaking Luxord, and Larxene was new to the game, so she wouldn’t need broken.

“I brought in the girl,” he said, gesturing towards Larxene just enough so that Axel caught the briefest glimpse of his cards, and Xigbar had been dealt a crappy hand to start. Axel glanced at his cards again; then again, it seemed luck had been on his side this round. “Doesn’t she make up for him?”

“I suppose a little,” he responded, tossing a few more chips on the pile.

“Are we going to play or what?” Larxene asked, scowling at the three of them and tapping her fingers against the table.

“We are playing,” he informed her, assured of an easy victory, if only he could get Luxord out of the game. She clearly had no idea what she was doing; although it was a shame they still hadn’t been able to find a regular fourth to play with them. Maybe they should try talking to Vexen again.

“I fold,” Luxord said, putting his cards face down on the table. Axel stared at him for a moment, wondering what the trick was, but any win was a good win in his book.

So he was floored when hands were revealed several minutes later, and Larxene came out on top. “Looks like I win,” she said quite gleefully as she collected her winnings while Axel continued to stare at her cards. What was obvious was she had clearly played before and Luxord had somehow known this. Then again, Luxord’s deck didn’t have five aces in it.

“How did you know?” he asked, throwing his cards on the table and glaring accusingly at Luxord as if he should have shared his secrets with them.

“Simple. While you were busy trying to break Xigbar, she switched her cards out.” Of course, he had been too busy thinking she was not a threat to notice what she had been doing. Obviously, Luxord had, and from Xigbar’s superior smirk, Axel was starting to wonder if he had noticed as well.

“So you noticed?” Larxene said, putting her cards away and giving the other ones back to Luxord.

“Of course I noticed.” He gathered up all the cards and started shuffling the deck, “And there will be no more cheating at my table unless you want to know what it feels like to be extremely old for a few hours.”

She stiffened for a moment, and Axel just knew she was pondering what that would do to her looks, but then she laughed it off. “You’re joking right?” she said confidently, and Luxord quirked his eyebrow.

“As if. I never did manage to get all the grey out of my hair.”

Axel had always wondered if Luxord’s threats to do horrid things to them had been merely idle, but he had never been bold enough to test them out for himself. Apparently, Larxene’s vanity would not allow her to either as she wordlessly handed over her secret stash of cards with a pout.

“Welcome to the game.”

Several hours later, Axel unhappily noticed that even with a new member, he was still coming out at the bottom of the pile.


End file.
